Do you think Sakakibara used clean money this time?

[SakuWandyCop]

Remember that Pride FC's downfall is the yakuza involvement which lost their Fuji TV deal.

After that, Sakakibara managed a soccer team then he returned to MMA in 2015.

As of now, I don't see any speculation of fixed fights in Rizin (I don't think Jiri/Ishii is a fix).

Should I say that Rizin is much cleaner version of Pride?

It is 2017, and their TV ratings has been a same (didn't increased or decreased).

 

[skylolow]

I believe he running clean this time. Didn't his TV deal at the start have some odd govt. backing or venting of the product before they put things on the network? I know there was something very odd about it but can't quite remember.

People just expect too much from JMMA or really any org outside the UFC. In sports you usually have one dominate league and everyone else fights for scraps if there is even any. UFC has reign supreme for close to decade now with little to no competition. If your a fan anywhere in the world of MMA chances are super high you tune into the UFC for your MMA fix and all other orgs take a back seat.

 

[manboy<3]

No

He is a criminal

He never clean

Japan very corrupt country

Just look at the ring girls he hires

all filthy

RINGS girl much better

 

[kingcillo24]

I believe he running clean this time. Didn't his TV deal at the start have some odd govt. backing or venting of the product before they put things on the network? I know there was something very odd about it but can't quite remember.

People just expect too much from JMMA or really any org outside the UFC.

I can't find the source since it was in Japanese. I remember reading that Rizin FF received funding from the Japanese government's cultural committee. The committee promotes projects that spread Japanese values worldwide. They also provided money for the Dragonball Z movie that came out in 2014 or something.

I think Dream was a great organization when they could actually pay their fighters.

 

[Asurah]

RINGS girl much better

To be fair they are better than all ring girls, Maeda wasn't a known perv for nothing.

I can't remember if it was ever announced but I got some info before the promotion was publicly known that Sakakibara was working closely with the police to make sure everything was clean. Whether or not that actually truly means anything is anyone's guess. They have some good sponsors and I'm sure Fujii TV is doing what they can to make sure they aren't indirectly tied to another scandal though.

Another thing to note is that most yakuza (in particular the ones that were allegedly involved with PRIDE split up into different factions) hold less power now than they did a decade ago.